After the destruction of the Bet haMiqdash, Jews were permanently humiliated by the Romans, who were in power. First, in the times of Emperor Trajan (who reigned between 98 and 117 of the common era). Trajan appointed Lusius Quietus in 117 as the governor of Judea, after his victory against the Jews of Crete, Cyprus and Egypt. This is known as Kitos War and hundreds of thousands of Jews were murdered. In Judea Quietus committed atrocities and abuses of all kinds, such as the “right of the lord” (הגמון), which allowed the governor to spend the first night of the wedding with the bride, which prompted Jewish marriages to be performed in secret.
When Emperor Trajan died in 117, Quietus was the strongest candidate to replace the deceased emperor, something that the Jews considered to be the greatest possible disaster. In any case, thanks to the intervention of Trajan’s widow, Plotina, Hadrian, his adopted son, was proclaimed as the new emperor.
The Jews sent a delegation to Hadrian and promised the new emperor fidelity. They also asked him to allow them to rebuild the Bet HaMiqdash. This request was not exceptional, since the Romans practiced the famous “pax romana”, which means that once they subjugated the peoples, they allowed them to rebuild their sanctuaries and practice their religion. To the great satisfaction of the Jews, Hadrian accepted the request of the Jews to rebuild the Bet haMiqdash!
There are coins from the time of Hadrian which seem to have been minted to celebrate the decision of Hadrian to rebuild the Temple, which would have taken place on one of his visits to Judea. In the coin we see above, Hadrian is seen next to a woman who represents Judea (the Jewish nation), and surrounded by Jewish children offering Hadrian palm branches: a symbol of peace and harmony between the two peoples. On the left side you can see the portrait of the emperor and the words HADRIANUS AUGUSTUS. On the other side ADVENTUI AUG (USTUS) JUDEIA, that is, “in honor of the arrival of Cesar to Judea”.
This story, and its unhappy ending, is also related in the Midrash of Bereshit Rabba 64:10: In the times of Ribbi Yehoshua bar Hanania the Roman Empire decided to rebuild the Bet HaMiqdash. But the Kutim, the Samaritans (who were great enemies of the Jews Y.B.), sent a delegation to the Hadrian and said to him: You must know, Cesar, that [if you allow them to build their Temple, the Jews of] this city will revolt against you. The Emperor replied: But what can I do now? I have already given them permission to build their Temple! The Kutim, who knew very well that the Bet haMiqdash needs to be built exclusively on Har HaBayit, Mount Moriah, suggested to Hadrian to tell the Jews that they were allowed to rebuild their Temple but in a different area, with different measures, etc. The Jews were not able to accept these conditions and the disappointment was huge. And the hopes of having again the Bet haMiqdash ended abruptly. The historian Paul Johnson explains that there were other elements that influenced Hadrian to reverse his decision and not allowing the reestablishment of the Bet HaMiqdash.
1. Tacitus, a Roman senator and historian, famous for his antipathy towards Jews, accused the Jews that they only obey their God, and will not abide by the authority of any human king against their God. Hadrian could not tolerate that the Jews would obey God instead of obeying him.
2. The ancient Christians considered (and many still consider) that the destruction of the Great Temple of Jerusalem was the evidence that God ח”ו had abandoned Israel and had established a new testament—a renewed covenant—with the newly formed “Christian congregation, which came to replace the humiliated Jewish nation and its outdated religion”. For the new Christians, avoiding the rebuilding of the Temple was vital to justify their narrative and sustain their replacement theology.
When Hadrian cancelled his plan, the Jews wanted to start a rebellion against the Roman Empire. The Sage who avoided the revolt was the elderly Ribbi Yehoshua ben Hanania. As a boy, Ribbi Yehoshua had experienced the tragic destruction of Yerushalayim, after the rebellion of the Jews against Rome. Ribbi Yehoshua the people the following parable: “Once upon a time a lion had eaten an animal and a bone got stacked in its throat. The stork introduced its long beak into the lion’s mouth and pulled out the bone. The stork then asked the lion a reward for the services rendered. And the lion said: ‘Don’t you think that you already got your reward because you had your head in my mouth and I did not eat you” . “Similarly,” said Ribbi Yehoshua, “we should be grateful to HaShem that despite not having our Bet haMiqdash rebuilt at least we are still alive.”
The people finally listened to Ribbi Yehoshua. But Hadrian relationship with the Jews worsened more and more, and the pax romana did not last for long …
To be continued….
